the executive’s guide to engaging millennials · the executive’s guide to engaging millennials...

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The Executive’s Guide to Engaging Millennials

The Executive’s Guide to Engaging MillennialsFrom the 2018 Best Workplaces for Millennials



It’s tough to develop tomorrow’s leaders if you can’t convince younger employees to stick around today.

According to a recent Gallup survey of Millennials: Losing Millennials at this pace isn’t just expensive. It threatens institutional knowledge, succession planning and innovation at any company lacking the tools to meet the career needs of this generation.

The Solution to Millennial TurnoverOur new research into the Best Workplaces for Millennials shows one key element impacts Millennial turnover by a factor of 22: a high-trust workplace culture.

While a high-trust culture has positive effect on all generations, the impact is much higher on

Only 29% of Millennials feel engaged at work

6 in 10 are actively looking for new job opportunities

21% changed jobs last year—3x the turnover among older

generations

29% 6/10 21%

Millennials. At Best Workplaces for Millennials, 88% of younger employees say they plan to stay long-term. These employees were also nearly three times as likely to be engaged at work, compared to the broader population surveyed by Gallup. In other words, these companies have cracked the code.

According to a recent Gallup survey of Millennials



Culture has never been more important for recruiting and engaging your young talent. And now, with the oldest Millennials in their mid-30’s, this generation is quickly moving into leadership roles. Prioritizing a trust-based culture that engages Millennials is a business imperative.

While a high-trust culture has a positive effect on all generations, the impact is much higher on Millennials. At Best Workplaces for Millennials, 88% of younger employees say they plan to stay long-term.

Here are 5 ways to create the great workplace Millennials expect:

Baby Boomers Gen-X Millennials

Trust Drives Millennial Retention

Offer a Great Workplace for All

13x16x 22x

1

2

3

4

5

Focus on your Millennial leaders

Define your “Meaning Archetype”

Lead with Sincerity

Strengthen your Employer Brand

Percent of employees who want to stay at their companies

Employees in high-trust environments

Employees in low-trust environments



Members of this generation are famously outspoken in their desire for more responsibility and career development. Yet analysis by Great Place to Work found Millennials’ workplace experience increases only modestly when they assume their first management role and does not improve as they rise in rank, even to executive level positions. This stands in contrast to the experience of other generations, whose experiences generally far exceed that of individual contributors by the time they rise to senior level positions.

This generational gap exposes both a risk with the institutional investments made in Millennial leadership development as

…And not just in terms of salary. More Millennials are now stepping into leadership roles, earning larger paychecks and supervising other employees.

well as the opportunity for broader, more effective cultural change. Great Place to Work finds that Millennial managers pose twice the flight risk of Boomer managers. This means leaders can’t assume Millennials’ needs are being met just because they are being promoted. The good news is that the data suggests Millennial leaders are more connected to the broader employee experience at their companies than similarly ranked leaders of other generations. High-ranking Millennials can prevent senior management teams from becoming isolated from their people and offer valuable ongoing insights to improve workplaces for all.

Focus On Your Millennial Leaders

Millennial LeadersExperience by Job level Millennial Gen X Boomer

7980

81

75

80

85

90

95

84 8485

8485 85

84

91 91

Mid-Level Manager Executive / C-LevelFrontline Manager/SupervisorIndividual Contributor



3 Ways to Support Millennial ManagersSo what can you do to support Millennial managers better? Here are 3 suggestions from Chinwe.

“Purposeful work, personal connection and candid feedback are just as important for Millennial managers as they are for those they supervise,” says Great Place to Work President Chinwe Onyeagoro.

Communication

Emphasize Frequent communication with front-line and department-level managers.

Impact

Ask Millennial managers about their understanding of the impact of your organization and how their work and team are contributing to the company’s overall growth and success.

Experience

Ensure that their experience matches what’s advertised in your company brochure. If it isn’t quite there yet, set expectations with and be supportive of middle management in closing the gap.

Communication

Impact Experience



Define Your “Meaning Archetype”

We’ve all heard the connection between Millennials and meaning. Millennials look for professional opportunities where they feel they’re making an impact. Younger employees who tell us they make a difference at work are 7 times more likely to plan a future with their companies.

The good news is —you don’t need to be saving the world to create meaningful work

Disruption

Your vision is to reinvent the industry, and co-workers are excited to be the pioneers making that happen.

Solidarity

You have a unique, shared vision that inspires teams, or an especially close-knit culture that leads co-workers to support each other during personal and professional struggles.

Success

You’re an industry-leader, the best of the best. Employees feel their expertise and contributions are helping to surmount challenges in ways that no other business can.

for employees. Instead, we’ve found Best Workplaces use several “meaning archetypes” to tie company mission to employee purpose. The most successful companies combine several of these archetypes to help as many employees as possible find meaning in a way that makes sense to them.

Service

Your work—such as providing healthcare, hospitality or retail—improves the lives of others directly.

Community

You’re dedicated to community service in the form of volunteering and philanthropy. Or maybe you’re focused on creating an especially family-feeling culture within the company, where employees genuinely care about each other.



The archetype needs to be authentic

You can’t just start a volunteer day and expect it to have a strong impact on millennials. Community service has to be more than a discrete program or PR activity—it needs to be lived at every level of the organization.

2 Keys for Implementing Your Meaning Archetype

“People at MOD, from the stores all the way to the

executive team, take pride in working for a purpose-

driven company. When it comes down to it, the world

doesn’t need another pizza chain. However, with all that

is happening in the world, every community needs more

MODness. That’s what we are working towards here. The

stories of those who have been impacted positively by

the work that has been done is what motivates us. Not

money, nor fame. The social impact we can make in this

world is what drives all of us to grow this business.”

The archetype needs to allow employees to connect to their personal values.

They should be able to better express who they are as a unique individual through your culture—or even feel they can become who they want to be.

As one Millennial from Best Workplace MOD Pizza puts it



Lead with Sincerity

We’ve found younger employees often hold higher expectations surrounding communication than their older peers. Retaining Millennials requires frequent, two-way feedback assuring employees that their ideas and concerns are a part of decision-making. Additionally, our research shows effective communication by leadership is one of the strongest drivers of innovation.

Actions are more convincing than job titles. When the CEO says she promotes work-life balance or leadership transparency, Millennials expect to see that in their daily work experiences.

Improvement in change management and agility

Improvement in innovation

When managers show sincere interest in Millennials as people, companies see:

“I’m not even 30 and I’ve been to meetings where major planning and strategy discussions took place. I can’t tell you how shocked I was ... They continue to prove, over and over again, how much they values my education and purpose here.”

Kimley-Horn employee

To truly engage Millennials, leader have to make an authentic effort to connect with their employees on a personal level. We found that when managers show a sincere interest in Millennial colleagues as people, they are much more likely to report workplace behaviors linked to agility and innovation.

8x

7x



Many Millennials shop for jobs as they do other consumer products, making your employer brand more crucial than ever for attracting young talent.

On top of that, Gallup reports that 75% of Millennials turn to friends and family when making job decisions. They want to hear genuine responses from other employees of what it’s like to work there. What do you want employees to say when they’re asked “what’s it like to work for your company?”

Higher Retention

Millennials who take pride in their organizations are 20x more likely to say they want to stay with their companies for a long time.

Better Brand Ambassadorship

Millennials who say they have a great workplace are 59x more likely to strongly endorse their company with friends and family.

Strengthen Your Employer Brand

We found investing time and energy into your employer brand pays off big with this generation:



Many companies still have some work to do when it comes to fairness. When asked about fair compensation, for example, there was a 5.9 percentage point difference in responses between Millennial men and Millennial women across all the companies we study.

Millennials are more diverse than any previous generation. “Equity” is not an abstract human resources goal for them. Younger employees expect equal treatment for all employees, no matter their background or role in the organization.

Offer a Great Workplace for All Employees

Race-Ethnic Profiles for Age Groups, 2015

Source: William H Frey analysis of Census Bureau Estimates released June 23, 2016

Our research on the 100 Best Companies to Work For® already shows that companies committed to equal treatment achieve 4 times the median revenue growth. This advantage will grow as the workforce becomes more diverse.

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Ages 55+ Ages 35–54 Ages 18–34(Millennials)

Under 18(Post-Millennials)

75.0% 61.5% 55.8% 51.5%

Hispanic

2+ Races

Asian

Am Indian / Alaska Native

Black

White



The results are in. Creating a high-trust culture that emphasizes authentic leadership, workplace equity, and meaningful work is the winning corporate strategy for cultivating and retaining Millennial workers. While a high-trust culture positively impacts employees of all generations, its impact is even more dramatic on this generation of tomorrow’s leaders.

The Best Workplaces for Millennials are seeing double the average reported engagement rates among young workers, and are finding ways to close the worrisome experience gaps happening among Millennial managers. It’s time for more companies to follow their model and take the action critical to their future business success.

Conclusion



See all 100 Best Workplaces for Millennials

Rank Company Industry Rank Company Industry

Information Technology01 Construction &

Real Estate06

Financial Services & Insurance03

Professional Services08 Financial Services

& Insurance10

Information Technology04 Hospitality09

Hospitality08

Information Technology02 Financial Services

& Insurance07

V I E W T H E L I S T

https://www.greatplacetowork.com/best-workplaces/millennials/2018



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For 30 years, Great Place to Work® has worked with leading companies from around the world to identify and build high-trust, high-performance workplace cultures. Our research has proven that building great workplaces to work for all isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s better for business.

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the executive’s guide to engaging millennials · the executive’s guide to engaging millennials...

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